Cut down on the spoonfed storytelling in MoP.

Just a random suggestion, make more cutscenes. Perhaps at the start of an instance even, explaining the story of why that instance is there or what needs to be done. Of course, like the Dragon Soul cutscenes, make them skippable.

Cutscenes aren't a bad way to deliver the story, or set the mood. They're one of the few things I enjoyed about Dragon Soul, even if the story in there still felt rather contrived and rushed - and the content worse.

I play this game in part for story, and throughout Cata, I'm sad to say I've been disappointed. I have high hopes for MoP though, because I know you guys can learn from your mistakes, and that you're aware of the mistakes you guys have made. You have competition now, so don't blow it in any area - gameplay OR story.

How about a dragon age or fallout style questing, for example every quest has different ways of completion in addition to that they all have different outcomes, we already have competing neutral factions in the game, so it could reward rep for certain factions depending how certain quests are done etc..

The idea I'm thinking of is sort of like a quest web, quests link to one another through players decisions, the decision of players could simply effect the order certain quests are done in, or it could be as radical as a completely different quest line.

I think this way, players would be able to have a new experience in a new zone, regardless how many play throughs.

First of all, there a huge difference between LORE and RP some people is missing.Im a lore fan. i really like reading about the world im playing in, and i have to say that WoW's lore is pretty damn good.Im not an RPer, however. When im doing instances, my main concern is about figuring out mechanics and discovering faster or more effective ways to kill bosses, not trying to play a role in an imaginary story.

That being said, i believe the new dungeons goes a lot past the point of offering us the lore behind them, with extensive comic-like dialogues where the characters explain the story.Im thinking about the Arcurion/Archbishop encounters (what the heck, when did he turn evil? he first help us get inside and suddenly hes bad. and whats worse, Thrall seem to knew about it!!), and to a less extent to the different parts in the End Time instance (they are short enough and kind of justified by the fact were being led by Nozdormu. They also dont stop the party from starting the pulls).It just becomes a pain instead of an enriching experience about lore, specially when its the 5th time running throught it. This method i believe works exactly against its purpose, killing whatever "epic feeling" a given instance should have, for an history lesson.

I dont mind long speeches from time to time. actually, it comes to my mind Scourgelord Tyrannus on PoS and his awesome taunt before the fight

Alas, brave, brave adventurers, your meddling has reached its end. Do you hear the clatter of bone and steel coming up the tunnel behind you? That is the sound of your impending demise.

damn epic

I understand there a very thin line between enriching an instance with the lore behind it, and just plain flood the gameplay with history lessons, or doing senseless instances where players dont understand whats going on.

So,I would propose a more extensive usage of the Dungeon Journal (GREAT tool so far imo). It already has a short summary about every boss´ lore (or at least some info) before the mechanics explanations so i think it would be a nice way to go, offering the lore to whoever wants to get more informed about it, like me, and leaving the gameplay smooth and uninterrupted. Keyword here is the OPTION to access the lore.

The WoW story could be stronger. But I don't experience the story and think "Oh, that's weak and I didn't enjoy it." The only complaint I have had about the story is that sometimes, parts will just abruptly stop. The Ravenholdt questline, for example.

While I do enjoy most of the books, I wish I didn't have to buy them or miss out on portions of the story that are not in the game. I would have liked to see a bit more of Malygos's ascenion to Aspect in the game. Instead, one moment he was not and then he was.

I would like to see a story that isn't completely linear and exactly the same each time. No I am not talking about 2 expansion starting zones, I mean what quests I do or don't do and how I complete them makes an actual difference towards the flow of the story. Maybe if I don't do quests x and y, I fail quest z, and failing quest z makes a,b, and c completely different. Something like that. I'm so sick of trying to level over and over when I know exactly how it will go each time. It gets so tedious.

Also I want to be the hero, not some garbage mary sue Thrall or Tirion. I make all the finishing blows, I'm the champion, everyone celebrates MY triumph over the big bad evils.

Burning Crusade-"You Are NOT PREPARED!" Oh damn..illidan is a monster yet i feel bad for him at the same time, great story

Wrath- Arthas one of the most known figures in WoW, after seeing all the destruction actually being told about him in game really making you hate this guy..he finally drops forcing you to suddenly realize he was a good person trying to save his people untill corrupted by frostmourne. You feel bad for having to kill him *Single Tear*

Cataclysm- Some random big !@# dragon that's going to rez old bosses we have already seen and another boss thats been rezed and is about to rez another old boss that's already been rezzed three times...eh? let's change the lore massively at the same time to make it work

We can only hope mists has someone decent that we have actually heard of and it doesnt go like this

Mists- "It seems we have run out of ideas again..and instead of trying you shall fight Bowzer, we had to change to S to a Z due to copyright" Have fun!

We're always open to constructive feedback as long as it stays constructive. There are a few different types of thoughts from the community on these things that I've heard via podcasts or read on fansites and the forums here.

First, we've gotten lots of feedback through the years that it's difficult to learn the story of World of Warcraft. Many players have expressed that they have concerns over too much story having to be found outside the game and not enough in the game, or even not being led to the story in the game and thus missing it. Obviously, this is something we've been trying to correct where we can and trying to find a balance between the two. We're aware that Azeroth's history and story is pretty vast and with each new expansion, we're given the opportunity to expand on it even more.

Second, we've heard (as you've stated) that once through, it's not as fun the second time. We've obviously experienced this as well in the past via Culling of Stratholme. As you saw there, we did eventually make it possible to skip this portion of the event, but there are risks involved with that too. For newer players or those that aren't on the front edge of progression, this can cause them to miss out on being able to see this story unless they're with people who are willing to let it play out so they can experience it.

That said, I can't say that we'll do the same for the current dungeons (allowing the "skip"), but I can say that we'll continue to take constructive feedback on these aspects of the game as often as we can. We want to make sure we're giving the story that people want, while still making sure it's as fun as possible to be a part of it.

As for Mists of Pandaria and the storyline there, we definitely want to continue down the path of offering up story where we can. We feel that this can only enhance the experience of the game. We're not unaware though of the concerns on both sides of the fence.

I believe a good fix to this is more short videos...players that want to watch the story unfold can, those who do not can simply hit escape. Take the extra time and make your short videos - they're much better than the RP NPCS currently do and illustrate it a whole lot better.

I have never replied to any forum so not sure where to put this but with all the good things blizz does why did they make all good gems one color?( being red gem.) I have a jc and think its crappy to go and farm ore to get just red gems that i need. Some yellow and maybe a few off colors here and there but red gems mostly. prices are crazy because of this and all other gems are about useless blizz in the future make the main gems for toons be different colors not all red please.

I think you did an AMAZING job with the story in the ICC heroic dungeons. That was some pretty epic stuff in there. I honestly haven't seen anything in this expansion that was that engrossing and entertaining to date.

Please do more of that. It really felt very well planned and executed imo.

The 3 new dungeons are a preset before Dragon Soul... it was there attempt to replicate it but it doesn't have the same effect. Personally I miss having to do the chain heroic, like in BC, to get attuned for raiding etc, getting attuned period added to the story background. Some people call it a unnecessary grinding but being attuned always had story behind it.

Ive got a big complaint! Archaeology Drops or the lack there of!!!!! Ive given up on it. Ive got hours and hours of trying to get the good stuff like the vial of the sands and what do you put in the jars? %432^#!@&$#@^ !!! TRASH!!!!! Hours of wasted time just to gratify your damm ego!!!! Who get the good stuff? One of your friends! Some Stupid carrot club!!?? But if a player says Ill oh Ill just buy enough gold to get a gear piece from a out of game vendor OOHHH weve got to ban you!!!! Listen to your players not not some out of touch programer/developer Start being reasonable on your Non Dungeon Drops

I have a feeling it's trying to tell us something.. i just don't know what..

The "role" in RPG is about creating or using a premade character and making decisions as that character might in the story you're presented with.

It can be from the viewpoint of a entirely created character (as in DA:O) or a premade one with an existing personality (Commander Shepard from Mass Effect).

Most of us might have more in mind for our characters, particularly in games such as EQ or WoW where we're not normally the center of the story (this is the real innovation of ToR, where your leveling experience IS your story). Generally, the "making up your own story" involves games like CoH where there isn't much else to do.

That's all outside the game, however. Some of us just have overactive imaginations, but when you get down to it, it doesn't really matter in the game.